Emergency Preparedness Training and Technical Assistance Toolkit for Community Health Centers
Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs, health centers) rarely have personnel focused on conducting emergency management activities full-time, yet there are clear expectations and requirements for FQHCs to participate in mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery activities, both as certified healthcare facilities and as members of the larger healthcare community. FQHC staff need targeted content to allow them to learn and understand important emergency management concepts efficiently and in less time. There are few existing toolkits that focus on specific health center-focused emergency management considerations for FQHCs to reference. CHCANYS Emergency Management Team, in partnership with NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), has worked on creating the Emergency Preparedness Training and Technical Assistance Toolkit for Community Health Centers (Toolkit), which we hope will help close this existing gaps.
This multi-module Toolkit is meant to guide health centers through the process of creating and maintaining a comprehensive emergency management program (CEMP) as a complement to their established risk management programs. The guidance and resources included are based on an “all-hazards” approach to building a CEMP and associated plans around the four phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. It also reflects current regulatory requirements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and expectations of Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). All health centers may benefit from this Toolkit, whether just starting the process of developing a CEMP, or to evaluate and update existing plans as part of a mature CEMP.